DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Description): Gene regulation through transcription is a fundamental process common to all biological systems. Transcriptional regulation underlies critical aspects of cell behavior including proliferation, response to environmental signals, differentiation, and the development of multicellular organisms. This application requests funding for a summer FASEB conference on "Transcriptional Regulation during Cell Growth, Differentiation, and Development." The intent of this conference is to bring together researchers engaged in studying a broad range of transcriptional processes using different methodologies and biological systems. The goal is to provide an in-depth view of this rapidly expanding field so that experimental and conceptual advances in specific areas can be rapidly disseminated and applied to new problems. Each session of the conference groups together talks that focus on different approaches to key areas of research of gene regulation. The sessions are designed to provide an overview of recent advances in knowledge of fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional activation and repression, chromatin structure, long-range and epigenetic effects on gene expression, and their relationship to the biology of response to environmental signals, development, and cell-cycle control. The conference will underscore the important role that transcriptional regulation plays in normal differentiation and development and the manner in which aberrant gene expression is involved in cancer and other diseases. Transcriptional and biological regulatory mechanisms will be discussed across a wide range of species (yeast, worms, flies, mammals), such that the similarities and differences can best be appreciated. The conference will be held at Snowmass, CO from July 25-30, 1998. The meeting will include formal talks, informal poster sessions, discussion periods, and ample opportunity for interaction among the attending scientists. Attendees will include principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. The conference will provide an up-to-date and cost-effective overview of one of the most fundamental and rapidly moving fields in biology and is expected to generate stratagems for further research.